DIII No. 1 Juniata Falls to DII Lewis

Romeoville, Ill. - Lewis University hit .427 for the match while holding the Eagles to a .264 hitting percentage as the Juniata College men's volleyball team opened its two-game midwestern road trip with 3-0 loss to the Flyers, Friday night in Romeoville, Ill.

Game scores were 30-23, 30-24, and 30-24.

Juniata (6-6) committed 15 attack errors and hit .188 in games one and two, before recovering to post an impressive .444 hitting percentage in game three.

The Eagles had their best chance at overtaking Lewis in game two. The game was tied at 22-22 following a Matt Werle (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) kill, but the Flyers responded with a side out kill by Alex Vigansky. With Vigansky serving, Lewis picked up points on a Juniata attack error and a block by Billy Sahagian and David Kelnhofer to take a 25-22 lead. A Kelnhofer attack error returned service to Juniata's Zach Wanner (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield), but the Flyers regained the serve with a Kelnhofer kill. A kill, a block, and a service ace by Lewis put the Flyers on game point at 29-23, but a Kelnhofer service error cut the margin to 29-24. A Juniata attack error allowed Lewis to seal the win.

Wanner led the Eagles with 11 kills, while Matt Fritz (Churchville, Md./John Carroll) tallied 10 kills. Anthony Damiano (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) logged eight digs for the Eagles, Werle set the offense with 35 assists. Juniata recorded just 3.5 total team blocks to Lewis' 9.5, with Werle leading the effort with three total blocks.

Juniata's road trip continues on Saturday when the Eagles face Loyola University Chicago.